WO 2007/094725 discloses a centrifugal separator having a gas inlet that extends through the bottom of the centrifugal separator. The outlet opening of the gas outlet is provided through the side wall above the stack of separating disks adjacent to an upper one of the end walls. Separated liquid impurities are discharged through the side wall.
WO 2005/087384 discloses a centrifugal separator having a gas inlet that extends through the top of the centrifugal separator. The outlet opening of the gas outlet is provided through the side wall below the stack of separating disks adjacent to a lower one of the end walls. Separated liquid impurities are discharged through the side wall.
US 2011/0281712 discloses a centrifugal separator for cleaning crankcase gases having an outlet opening of the gas outlet that extends through an upper end wall of the centrifugal separator. An inlet opening of the gas inlet extends through the lower end wall. Separated liquid impurities are discharged through the lower end wall.
One problem of the prior art centrifugal separators is that they have a relatively large size requiring a large space. This is a significant problem, especially when the centrifugal separator is used for cleaning crankcase gases from smaller combustion engines, preferably from smaller diesel engines, to be used especially in lighter trucks and the like.
One way of reducing the size of the centrifugal separator is to reduce the diameter of the stack of separation disks. However, in order to maintain the separation efficiency, the height or the length of the stack then has to be increased.